


The Sign

by Qotice



Category: Petscop
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Belle is Paul's adoptive sister, Brother-Sister Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Other, Song Lyrics, Speculation, Tapers is referenced, The Sign by Ace of Base, paul is care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:13:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21588919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qotice/pseuds/Qotice
Summary: Belle and Paul escape from Marvin's school building. Paul doesn't know what will happen next. He knows he will be haunted by his past, but he still hopes for a better future.
Relationships: Paul Leskowitz & Belle Leskowitz
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	1. The Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Belle vibe checks Marvin.

Belle wandered Marvin’s near-empty and decrepit school building. Only moments before had she managed to escape her testing room undetected. Marvin had no idea that she had escaped, nor did he know where she was. She kept her guard high while she searched for Marvin - to say that she feared doing so would be a massive understatement. The thought of being caught by him terrified her, however, her terror motivated her every move to be made with extreme care. Belle knew what would happen if he found her. She wished to be unable to imagine the punishments he was capable of.

She found a broken window that was boarded up with one plank of wood. At one point, when the building was first abandoned, the window was fully boarded. Since then, however, only one board remained. Belle took the plank with her for defense if she ran into Marvin. As a result, the window was left wide open to the outside. She made a mental note that it was the closest exit to the testing rooms and then continued her way. She was in an empty hallway when suddenly she heard the clacking of footsteps against the worn linoleum flooring:

It was Marvin.

In less than a second, she surveyed her immediate surroundings. She saw there were some lockers that lined the hall. They provided her coverage, so she hid behind their corner. Marvin’s footsteps didn’t hasten, so she figured he must have not seen her - but there was no time to feel relief - this was the opportunity Belle had been waiting for. The opportunity that Paul depended on her to take. It was her fault he was trapped here, now it was time for her to get him out.

A wave of doubt washed over Belle as she heard Marvin draw nearer - would she be able to do it? Would she be able to pull through? Her fear told her it would be best to quit now, to go back to the testing room and -

\- Marvin walked right past where she hid, he walked dead center into her view.

His image reminded Belle of all the horrible things he did to her. She remembered all the ways he manipulated her, degraded her, and told her how she would never be loved because she was unlovable. Marvin needed to pay for what he did. Even though she was terrified, this was her and Paul’s only shot to escape. She couldn’t give up - she wouldn’t be a quitter again, not now nor ever.

While Marvin wasn’t looking, Belle struck the wooden plank across his back. The strike to his back knocked the wind out of his lungs and he toppled over. He hadn’t even had a chance to breathe before Belle struck him again. Each blow she hit was fueled by all the anger, guilt, and confusion he subjected her to. She struck him three more times: two strikes against his head to knock him out and a third strike on his back for good measure.

Belle didn’t think she had the capacity to be so ruthless. Immediately she was reminded of how he would use the tool on her. She felt panicked and disgusted at such a comparison. With haste, she threw the wooden plank aside, she needed to take his wallet and keys.

Marvin was incapacitated but still alive. Belle didn’t know when he would awake, so she had to act fast. Luckily what she was looking for was in one of his pockets, but when she plucked his wallet and keys, Marvin slightly stirred. Belle bolted back to the testing rooms to save Paul. With one of the keys she stole, she unlocked Paul’s room. Like in her testing room, the TV monitor displaying Petscop was on. The light from the screen illuminated the room and shined on Paul’s figure. He was still lying in bed.

When Paul heard the hidden door open, he hastily sat up and turned around to face who he expected to be Marvin. Paul thought he was dreaming once he recognized it was Belle. This couldn’t be real - surely not. Why would Belle be here? However, when she ran over and gave him a great big hug, all his doubts dissipated into thin air.

“B-Belle?!?” He croaked out. His voice was hoarse from disuse.

“Paul! We can leave!” The genuine relief in her voice made what sounded improbable feel so real.

“We- We can?”

“Yes! But we need to act fast! Marvin could get here any moment - can you run?”

Their escape was a rush and a blur of actions - once Paul nodded to affirm that he could run, Belle took him by the hand, and they were both off. She led him to the hallway where the broken window was and helped him out. Neither of them could believe what was happening; they really were escaping.

As Belle was getting herself out the window, both heard a noise they dreaded:

“GET BACK HERE!!! _I’LL KILL BOTH OF YOU!!!_ ”

At the end of the hallway was Marvin, obviously still beaten up, but still as loud and raucous as ever. Even though he was hurt, Marvin tried to run down the hallway after them. Belle scrambled to get out the window. Once she and Paul were completely outside, they made a beeline for Marvin’s car, a dingy, gray pickup. Paul couldn’t believe he could run so fast. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline pumping through his body, but perhaps what caused it was his fear of being trapped in that school.

Belle’s hand fumbled to use its keys, but she was able to unlock the car.

“Get in the passenger’s side! I’ll drive! Go! _Go! **Go!**_ ”

Neither of them knew how close or far behind Marvin was to them, he was still a threat, they didn’t dare to look behind until the car was started and running. As soon as Belle started the engine, she shifted the car’s gears to drive and hit the gas pedal as fast as possible. She couldn’t believe that her plan was working. Maybe it worked because the stars aligned through the sheer power of luck, but perhaps it was because of her conviction and determination.

Whatever caused the impossible to happen, happened. That’s all that mattered to them. They were finally free.


	2. The Drive: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle drives and paul thinks about his time in the ghost room.

As the two drove away, they sat in near silence. Belle didn’t avert her line of sight from the dirt road, while Paul kept looking over his shoulder. He half-expected Marvin to appear behind them. His paranoia continued even when he could no longer see the school.

Oddly, the building sat isolated from the rest of the world in the middle of a grassy plane. It reminded Paul of the Newmaker Plane. He would recognize Petscop in the most innocuous things.

Being forced to stay in the cramped room for so long messed with his head. After a while in the room, Paul’s dreams would take place in it. A lack of change or stimulation, perhaps. Soon he could no longer tell when he was dreaming or when he was awake. When he drifted to sleep, Paul would find himself just as trapped as he was before. There was no freedom from the waking world, so in his dreams he would do as he usually did:

Paul played Petscop.

Petscop became his whole world. Even when he didn’t want to continue playing, he had to. Petscop was the one variable that anchored him to sanity. As the testing room slowly chipped away at his mind, the game was his refuge. It protected him from losing himself in the oppressive orange that covered the room’s walls.

A bump in the dirt road brought Paul back to himself - god, did he miss change so much - and he realized neither he nor Belle were wearing seatbelts.

“H-Hey, uh-Do you think we should be wearing seatbelts?” He asked as he clicked the buckle into place.

Belle’s eyes widened with the realization she wasn’t wearing one; “Oh-Oh yeah, you’re right, we should.”

“Where, uh, are you driving to?”

“The nearest highway.” Belle stated, “From there, we’ll take it to the nearest city. Then we need to find the nearest payphone.”  
“Oh.” Paul would never have thought to plan that far into the future - for the longest time, he didn’t think he could ever have one.

“We will need to abandon this car,” Belle continued without prompt, “we can’t let Marvin trace us.”

“Yeah that’s-that’s a good idea.”

Instead of looking back, Paul decided to keep his eyes forward. He hoped that with each mile the farther they got away from the school building, the more his memories of being trapped there would fade away. Despite what he hoped, his memories wouldn’t be that simple to forget.

Before long, the two of them came upon an actual paved access road that led to the highway. Paul tried to keep his eyes trained on the road, but as time went on his eyes because heavy and he struggled to keep them open. He would try to sit upright, but every few minutes he would begin to doze off before he would catch himself and jolt up awake. His insomniac habits began to finally catch up with him. Belle took notice of his struggle to stay awake; “You doing good, bro?”

“I-” Paul was interrupted by his own yawn, how rude, “- I’m just tired, no worries...”

He wasn’t just tired - he was exhausted. To him, it was a miracle how Belle still managed to stay awake.

“You should try to sleep…” Belle suggested, “I’m going to need you awake when I start to get sleepy. The last thing I want to do is check into a motel or something to sleep. The second to last thing I want to do is get into a car wreck because I dozed off.”

“Alright…” To be honest, Paul dreaded the thought of going to sleep. He feared waking up to find himself in that orange room again - to find that their escape was all a sick dream - but if Belle wanted him to sleep, he’d do it for her. He would do anything for her, after all, she was his sister.

First, Paul closed his eyes and tried to lay back the car chair to get a more comfortable position. The rumbling of the truck’s engine and the sound of the wind rushing past as they drove down the highway began to lull Paul to sleep. Belle wondered what he would be dreaming about, she hoped for him that he would have a pleasant sleep.


	3. The Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul dreams of the ghost room and tries to love himself.

The dream never begun. Within it, the dream had always been - it felt to Paul like he had been in the bed for eternity. He was stranded - glued - tied - frozen - stuck in that cursed bed. The bed that was always in the oppressive orange room. It was the ghost room. But Paul knew this testing room was separate from the rest of the school, he knew he was alone. This wasn’t new, though, he was always alone. The room floated in nothing, he couldn’t see the nothing he was certain it was in, but he knew it was there. The walls didn’t move but they slanted and bulged, threatening to let the nothing leak in. Simultaneously, Paul wanted to stay and leave the bed. He wasn’t terrified, but he was distressed- no, anxious- no, queasy. He thought to himself that it would never end, until it did when the hidden door opened. Suddenly, Paul knew the room to be grounded, the walls creaked but no longer bulged. No one came through the opened door, it only continued to open wider. From where Paul was in the bed, he had to strain his neck to see what lay beyond the opening. Through the doorway he peered and recognized a familiar scene. Was it the bathroom from his mom’s house? Certainly, that’s what was always behind the door, Paul had always known this. The bathroom wasn’t the only thing he could see, there was a small figure too: a young girl. She struggled to look at herself in the sink mirror; she had to stand upon a step tool to get a good look at her face and at any moment it looked as if she was about to lose her balance and fall. Paul watched the girl studying herself in the mirror as he was stuck in the bathtub, he knew he was always stuck in. The girl kept touching her face, something was wrong. She looked like she could cry - Paul wanted to say something to her.

“I love you.”

She didn’t respond, he tried to call out louder to her again:

“I love you.”

Whatever was said came out as a whisper. Paul didn’t need to yell; the girl could hear herself perfectly well. Why would she call out to herself if she was right there? Paul could hear her, but the girl didn’t look at Paul, Paul didn’t look at Paul, he was too busy watching someone.

In his bathroom mirror, he saw a clear picture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to write in dream logic.  
> Uh, Paul is Care.


	4. The Drive: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul takes the wheel and buys gas.

Paul awoke when the truck suddenly swerved.

There was no crash, he and Belle were both okay. Barely a single car, aside from the truck they were in, was on the road. Paul’s eyes registered that the pitch-black sky overhead. Through his hazy vision, he looked over to the truck’s digital clock, it read: “11:43 pm”. He probably would have drifted off into sleep again, but the truck abruptly swerved once more - now he was wide awake.

Belle didn’t notice him until he talked to her.

“Hey, uh, do you need a break? I can drive if you want.”

"Oh, you’re awake-” she was caught off guard by this offer, but she steadfastly assured him; “I’m fine, bro. You can rest I'll drive."

"I'm not tired."

"I can drive, don't worry." she still insisted.

“No, you can’t.” Paul appreciated her stubbornness, but sometimes she didn’t know what was best for herself, “You swerved the car because you nearly fell asleep!"

“How would you-” she was cut off by her own yawn, how dare her body betray her like this, “- how would you know I swerved? Weren’t you just asleep?”

"I woke up the first time it happened.”

“Oh.” her ruse was seen through "Fine, Paul, you can drive."

She pulled the truck over to the side of the highway. Even though there weren’t any other cars, it was still safest for them to change seats there.

“So, do I keep driving straight? When should I get off?” Paul asked as he clicked his seatbelt into place.

“Our exit it still a way away, if you see a sign that says, _‘Welcome to Wingdale!’_ wake me up if I’m not awake by then. Otherwise, yeah, keep driving.”

Paul looked down at the gas gauge, it was only an eighth of the way full.  
“I think we’ll need some gas soon...” he said.

“I took Marvin’s-” Belle yawned again. “-wallet along with his keys, we have money, just stop by the nearest station when you see one.”

After Paul adjusted the truck’s mirrors, they were off on the road again. When they got to the nearest gas station, Belle was already fast asleep. To Paul, she looked very tranquil, and to an extent, he envied that. He wished he could sleep peacefully but his dreams never allowed him.

Paul parked and at an empty pump and before he could get gas, he looked to see what money was in Marvin’s wallet. All that was in it were around $60 dollars in cash, one credit card, and his state-issued ID. Paying with his credit card wasn’t an option for Paul, he had no clue what Marvin’s pin number was, so to pay for gas he would have to go to the clerk inside the station to pay with cash. He figured that $40 would be enough to fill up the truck’s tank.

Before Paul went inside the gas station, he was stuck in place looking at Marvin’s ID: the ID picture looked back at him. The longer he stared at it, the closer Paul felt Marvin was getting to them. That man did horrible things to both Paul and Belle: he was sadistic with no empathy. Sure, he was stranded at the school, but somehow, he always found a way to creep back into their lives. A shiver went down Paul’s spine. He closed the wallet and figured it was a good time to go pay for gas.

Inside the gas station was what any average gas station looked like: cigarettes and tobacco products behind the cash register, gum and mints stocked in front of it, salty and sweet snacks lined on either side of one shelve, a portion of a wall replaced with a massive refrigerator stocked with alcohol on one side and sodas and waters on the other, and - as no gas station can exist without it- two dingy restrooms that were off to the side of the main area. The one thing that Paul didn’t expect was an entire display of cameras that could be bought all labeled with the brand “[Tapers](https://thrompd.hinchy.co/tapers/)”. 

“Huh.” Paul wondered aloud.

He had never seen the brand before, but it oddly looked familiar.

“Can I help you with anything?” the clerk asked him.

Paul walked over to the cashier, “I’d like to, uh-” The clerk had an odd expression on their face, Paul figured it was because he looked like a homeless person (which was only a little true).

“You’d like to what?” Whoever the clerk was, they didn’t have much patience.

“I-I like to pay for gas at, uh, pump 4.”

“Okay, how much will you be paying then.”

“$40 dollars please.” Paul handed them the money and declined the offer for a receipt. The clerk continued to eye him as he made his way out. Paul hated when he was stared at by anyone. In his fragmented memory, he recalled that when he did something bad, his parents would always stare him down with a hairy eyeball before they would punish him. Their askance stare was the first indicator that he’d be yelled at or be grounded. So, when anyone else stared at him, he’d be filled with dread.

His mind began to race, he became consumed with thoughts of wanting the clerk to stop. He wasn’t doing and didn't do anything bad - just, _please_ \- could the guy just avert their gaze? Paul didn’t look back, but he could feel the clerk staring at him with eyes like daggers. Each step he took out of the gas station felt like an eternity. Maybe the clerk was just worried Paul would steal something, but despite trying to rationalize the situation, Paul’s dread persisted.

When he made it to the truck, he accidentally slammed the car door when he closed it. He had not realized how tense he was, no wonder the clerk watched him with suspicion. Luckily the slam didn’t wake up Belle. She was still fast asleep. The sight of her in the peaceful state calmed his nerves. Paul took a deep breath and started the truck’s ignition. Immediately, the engine began to hum, and he slowly exhaled. They were back on the road again.


	5. The Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul and Belle sing The Sign

For a couple of hours, Paul sat in silence as he drove along the seemingly never-ending stretch of highway. He was the type of person who could easily zone out and be completely absorbed in his thoughts. Sometimes he’d lay in his bed and his brain would be too preoccupied with worries for him to get any rest. Due to this, he was very used to staying up late. With the road virtually empty and Belle still asleep, his thoughts ran wild.

Mostly he thought about the future instore for him and Belle. He had not the slightest clue what would happen next, there were so many possibilities - the uncertainty scared him. However, Paul would much rather deal with uncertainty than to deal with an unchanging present. He was so sick of being stuck in a perpetual loop where nothing changed. For everything to stay the same painful, dull, and monotonous way would be an abject nightmare to him. No matter what, neither he, nor Belle could go back - they could never ever go back.

After a while, the silence became too much for him, so he turned a knob labeled “VOL.” down low before he turned the radio on. Paul needed something to distract himself. Belle seemed to be a semi-heavy sleeper, so having some background noise probably wouldn’t wake her. The default station the radio was some sort of classical music station. They were in Marvin’s truck, so it made sense that this would be what the man listened to. Even if Paul wanted to listen to classical music, the station’s signal faded in and out with radio static. He began to flip through the available stations to listen to: There was a Spanish station, a country music station, another classical music station, until finally Paul turned to a pop-music station he could enjoy. It was 107.7 FM, and the station boasted it played every major pop song released since 1980. Paul didn’t know every pop song released since then, so he took its word for it.

As he drove further through the night, the music provided a nice backdrop to the barely changing view before him. Sparse trees and seemingly endless fields whizzed past the truck - how on earth did Marvin even find the school? It was in the middle of nowhere. Time trudged forward with each song – if not for the music playing, Paul would have sworn that time stood still. He glanced at the digital clock every once and awhile. At one moment it read “1:37 am” and the next it was “4:52 am”. He had to take a double take when he saw the time. Surely it wasn’t true, he hadn’t been driving for _that_ long. He looked back at it, and sure enough, the clock changed “4:53 am”.

“What the fuck...” Paul mumbled under his breath. Time couldn’t possibly be real.

Now that he was aware of the time, he realized how tired he was. Although he wasn’t dozing off, Paul could feel the fatigue in his eyes. Maybe if he could zone out again, he could forget about how he felt. He sighed and resigned himself to a few more hours of driving. It would only be a little bit, then he could wake up Belle, and then he would be able to take a break.

His mind crept back into the fuzzy unreality of zoning out. He was nearly successful at it until suddenly he heard a voice that wasn’t there before. Paul was brought back down to reality and it took him a second to realize the voice was just the radio station’s disc jockey. The DJ’s voice greeted him warmly, as it did all the listeners of the station;  
“Good early morning from 107.7, where we play the best hits from the 80’s until now all just for you!”  
The warmth that came from her voice couldn’t hide how scripted it was. Of course, Paul knew not to assume such things about a person based solely on their voice, but the DJ sounded like a woman. She confirmed it too when she introduced herself.

“My name is Allegra Rose, and I'll be your first host for today. The current time is 5:00 am, the temperature outside is 51°F, the weather is predicted to be partly cloudy up until this afternoon.”

She sounded so carefree to him, he wondered how early she had to wake up to get to her job on time.

“Just like how we start every weekday, we’ll begin our first segment: Nineties until Nine right after this break!”

Some local commercial for a grocery store played, then afterwards a song by Abba. Next the song Birdhouse in Your Soul played, and it caused Paul to feel a little happier, and after that played two insurance commercials. Just as Paul was about to tune the radio out and zone out again, the next song plays and it’s drumbeat is unmistakably familiar. Then it dawned on Paul what it was: his favorite song when he was a little kid, The Sign by Ace of Base

First Paul starter by tapping his fingers to the beat. With each successive tap building up his enjoyment and preparing for the first verse. He hummed along with the first lyrics.

_I got a new life you would hardly recognize me I’m so glad._

Waves of nostalgia flooded over him, it felt warm much like the DJ’s voice. He remembered many memories of singing and dancing to the song when he was a little kid.

_How could a person like me care for you?_

If he recalled correctly, he had a CD of the album the song came on. Paul couldn’t remember the name of the album or the other songs that were on it because he only listened to The Sign.

_Why do I bother? When you’re not the one for me._

God, he hadn’t listened to this song in forever. It still sounds as great as it did the first time he heard it.

“Oo-oo-oo-ooh”

He was no longer just humming it now.

“Is enough, enough?”

Paul’s voice was still a little hoarse from disuse, but he didn’t care, it wasn’t as if he was performing in front of someone. The chorus began and he made a mental note not to sing to loud.

“I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes - I saw the sign.”

He didn’t want to wake Belle up nor did he want to embarrass himself.

“Life is demanding without understanding.”

Even then, to Paul, the lyrics seemed relatable as ever.

“I saw the sign,”

Unbeknownst to him, Belle began to wake up. She didn’t make any noise, nor did she stretch her arms, she only slowly opened her eyes. Despite sleeping upright in a car, she felt like she had the best sleep in ages.

“and it opened up my eyes I saw the sign.”

It took Belle a moment to register that Paul was softly singing to himself and to take in her surroundings. When she recognized what was going on, she didn’t want to interrupt Paul’s fun, so she kept quiet.

“No one's gonna drag you up to get into the light where you belong,”

He didn’t even notice her, and she thought that was a bit humorous. The expression on Paul’s face as he sang wasn’t overly joyous, but his slight smirk indicated happy contentment. If he hadn’t desperately needed a new set of clothes, a haircut, and a nice long shower, no one would have suspected he had gone through any of the shit Marvin subjected them both to. Belle wanted this pleasant moment to last forever, if only to forget about what happened to them, she joined in with his singing.

“...Where do you belong?” Belle knew the song but not all the lyrics.

“But where do you belong- wait what? You’re awake??” Paul immediately was flustered, how much had she heard? Belle chuckled at his slight embarrassment.

“Yeah I’m awake now, don’t be embarrassed about your singing, we’re both bad singers, it’s fine.” Belle said while an instrument only section of the song played.

“I- Well, I-” Paul was tripping over his words.

“Hey, why is the music turned down so low?” Belle reached over to turn the volume dial up, all the while Paul had a goofy incredulous look on his face. She didn’t know all the lyrics, but she wasn’t going to let this fun moment go to waste.

“La da da da moon!” Belle _really_ didn’t know this part of the song, but she was going to sing anyway.

“Do you even know the lyrics??” Paul asked.

“No!” Belle laughed “- la da who you are! How can a persooooooon like yooooou bring me joy!” Her voice cracked but she didn’t care. “Under the pale moon!” She was getting the hang of this. “uh, I see a lot of staaaaars!!”

Paul just glanced back at her then and again, switching his confused view from Belle to the road.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” with how bad she sang, one could call her a butcher.

“Is enough, enough-”

“-Enough, why are you singing??” Paul cut her singing off by asking, the chorus continued despite his order. He wasn’t mad, in fact her off-kilter singing was kind of funny, he couldn’t hide his smile. Her unabashed demeanor as something Paul admired about his sister, he wished he was that confident sometimes. Belle knew he lacked confidence, so she further encouraged him;

“Come on Paul! Sing! Did you forget you were having fun?”

“My god, I can’t believe you’re doing this.” Paul says in an exasperated and incredulous but lighthearted tone.

“The chorus will soon start again!”

“But-”

“-I know, how about I sing the first line, then you’ll sing the next - got it??” Belle was very excited, although, she wasn’t taking herself too seriously. She knows she’s acting goofy, but being goofy, loud, and happy is worth it.

“I-” Paul could barely retort to her demand when the song started singing again.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh!” Belle tried to match the song on beat but wasn’t successful. If Paul hadn’t interrupted her, they wouldn’t have missed the second replay of the chorus, but luckily the chorus plays three times in this song.

“Come on, Paul!” This time, Belle’s beckoning payed off.

“I saw the sign and it opened up my mind!” Paul still sang quieter than Belle was, but at least he was singing.

“And I am happy now living without you! I've left you, oh-oh-ohhh!” Belle stumbled on this part; she didn’t know there would be a variation in the lyrics. Paul, on the other hand, knew each word like it was his second nature.

“I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes I saw the sign! No one's gonna drag you up to get into the light where you belong!” Gradually he increased his singing volume to match hers. They both sounded terrible, but it didn’t matter to them at all. The wide smiles on their faces showed that they didn’t care, nothing could ruin this moment for them.

“I saw the sign, I saw the siiign-”

“I saw the sign!” Paul sang after Belle.

“I saw the sign, I saw the sign,” they continued in unison, “I saw the sign, I saw the sign-”

“I saw the sign!” Paul nearly screamed he was so happy. Belle let him finish the song as he started singing it;

“And it opened up my eyes I saw the sign!”

The song ended and neither one of them could contain their laughter. Paul laughed so hard that he had to pull the truck over to regain himself. They both sat in the truck coming down from their high of laughter one chuckle at a time.

“Heh-he, that was great, bro.” Belle smiled and looked over at Paul, he was grinning, and it was contagious. He turned to face Belle, his eyes were bright, although they had a hint of fatigue to them.

“Thanks,” he told her, “thank you for everything you’ve done, for saving me, for being such a great sister, for getting me to-” Paul started to choke up, his emotions overwhelming him.

“Hey, is something wrong, bro?” Belle placed a hand on his shoulder out of concern.

"I-I’m fine,” Paul’s eyes teared up “I’m just- I’m so glad and happy to have you.”

Belle didn’t know how to respond other than just hug him. He received her hug openly and clung to her. She stayed silent and let him finish his thoughts.

“I d-don’t know where I’d be without you, so thank you.” Paul hugged her tighter. “I love you so much, Belle.” He was full on crying now.

“I love you too, Paul. Thank you for being my brother.”

She kept hugging him as he let out all his tears. To comfort him, she rubbed her hand on his back. When he stopped crying, they were both hesitant to let go, but they released their embrace. Paul’s eyes were red from crying, but he still managed a smile. He looked at Belle and then turned to look out the front window of the truck. The sky was a light pink, the sun’s light breaking past the horizon. Maybe the future wouldn’t be so bad for the two of them, after all.

[ **The End.** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqu132vTl5Y)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love petscop so much.. ( ; _ ; )  
> I hope you enjoyed this fic and thank you for reading it! :)


End file.
